What do you do with dummy rounds?

[bengals1975]

So I'm new to reloading and as such I made a good amount of dummy rounds to set up my dies, get familiar with my press and how it works, test OAL, etc.

Now that I'm happy with my setup, I don't need the dummy rounds. I ordered a bullet puller so when it shows up I'm going to pull them apart but how should I treat the brass? What I mean is, since I was using new brass, should I treat it as once fired now or does the shaping/stretching not impact the case life that way? It seems like it would but I wasn't sure.

I'm tracking the usage of my cases as recommended by my manual and I'm not what category to put these in.

Thanks!

 

[soloban]

Just pull the bullet, add powder, and reseat and toss in with the rest of your loads. You won't loose that much neck tension from pulling it.

 

[jwrowland77]

I keep all my dummy rounds in my die boxes. Each new/different bullet will have a different ogive, so each new bullet, you will have to adjust the seating stem. If you have the dummy rounds still, you raise your seating stem, put the dummy bullet in there of the rounds you want to load, raise the bullet up into the die, adjust your seating stem and BAM you're done. Just my .02 of what I do.

 

[Sam1911]

Just put them back into the brass bucket they came from. Run them through the loading steps just like the rest of your brass.

 

[jcwit]

Are you asking about handgun brass or rifle cases?

If handgun cases are what you are asking about, just resize them and reload, no reason to track how many times they are reloaded. Watch for split case mouths, loose primer pockets and thats about it.

 

[LiveLife]

I pull the bullet and reload as usual BUT they go into a different 100 round ammo box to be shot separately.

I could toss them in with my plinking ammo Folger coffee cans but I am kinda OCD.

 

[joecil]

I also generally keep one for each bullet type as when it comes time to clean your dies it will come in handy again to reset the seating die. I also keep one case with the old primer in to use for checking powder throws when changing powders or setups.

 

[45lcshooter]

pull bullet and prime it and powder and shoot.

Only keep a few dummy rounds. I mostly use dummy rounds on my semiauto handgun ammo. My rifle dies stay pretty well where they should be so i dont have as many dummy rounds as semiauto hanguns.

 

[Trent]

I keep some dummy rounds of each caliber for various reasons. E.g. I keep a "string" of them for my belt feds, for cycling checks following cleaning. I also keep a died "index" round marked for my 300 Win Mag, when I'm done with a particular bullet run. Each bullet type has different dimensions, I die the bullet, load it over-long, and check where the rifling lands meet copper. This ensures I know maximum OAL if I ever return to that bullet (and gives me a reference point to observe changes in lands over the life of the rifle, to gauge throat erosion).

I also have some dummy 45 and 9mm rounds loaded up with no primers that I occasionally insert in to magazines for failure drills.

My son hates it when I hand him a fresh magazine at the range.... I call it good practice.

I give him the opportunity to get even by loading up some for me.

 

[Mike 27]

If I re-use them I run them through the re-sizing die after tear down and run em as normal.

 

[bengals1975]

Awesome feedback! Thanks a lot for all the responses.

 

[billybob44]

So I'm new to reloading and as such I made a good amount of dummy rounds to set up my dies, get familiar with my press and how it works, test OAL, etc.

Now that I'm happy with my setup, I don't need the dummy rounds. I ordered a bullet puller so when it shows up I'm going to pull them apart but how should I treat the brass? What I mean is, since I was using new brass, should I treat it as once fired now or does the shaping/stretching not impact the case life that way? It seems like it would but I wasn't sure.

I'm tracking the usage of my cases as recommended by my manual and I'm not what category to put these in.

Thanks!

SEND THEM TO SCHOOL!!!

HA HA...Really,keep at one of each bullet design for set up of your seating die. If you have extras, pull them+ load as new brass...Bill

 

[dragon813gt]

I keep one dummy round and one unsized bullet for every round I cast for. I also have dummy rounds for any of the jacketed rounds I shoot. These all go in a box w/ the nose punches and cramer pins if the mold takes them. It makes die setup quick and easy. Giving up one case and one bullet is nothing as it saves setup time. I currently load five different types of bullets for my 357 and they all require the dies to be setup differently.


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[JaxJim]

I keep one in the bullet box to setup the dies next time. After reloading for so long, I tend to use the same bullets, just where I have my comfort level.

The one thing I do to these "sample" or "dummy" rounds is put an extra bit of crimp on the neck to ensure they don't drift. I write the AOL on the shell so I have a reference to double check.

 

[bengals1975]

This is awesome. I hadn't planned on keeping any, now I definitely am.

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[rcmodel]

I don't make dummy rounds.

Too much chance of one getting mixed up in live ammo that has to work.

When I set up dies, they stay set up until I change bullets.

And in most every case, that only involves a slight adjustment of the seating stem.

Of course that depends on using real die lock-rings that stay where you lock them when you adjust the dies the first time you use them.
And that rules out Lee O-rings that slip every time you change dies.

rc

 

[BYJO4]

As mentioned already, I keep one dummy round for each bullet that I use to make adjusting the seating die quick and easy. On the others, I would pull the bullet and put the brass back with the rest of my brass (if you seated a primer, carefully deprime).

 

[fguffey]

What do you do with dummy rounds?


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So I'm new to reloading and as such I made a good amount of dummy rounds to set up my dies, get familiar with my press and how it works, test OAL, etc.

I use transfers and standards, I am the fan of moving chamber dimensions from the chamber to the die, as to what to do? Nothing, there is nothing that can be done with my transfers, criteria, bullet hold, I am the fan of bullet hold, I want all the bullet hold I can get and if I go through the time it takes to make a transfer it has to serve more than one purpose, I drill the flash hole/primer pocket to a diameter that will facilitate a cleaning rod to pass through it for the purpose of pushing bullets out of the case neck (necks with bullet hold). Seating bullets into the throat of the chamber and to the rifling allows me to transfer the measurement to the seating die, The seating die adjustment is referred to (by me) as .000 of the lands.

Then there is the length of the chamber from the bolt face to the shoulder of the chamber, referred to as being head space by reloaders. I make transfers and standards for deterring the length of the chamber, with the primer pocket/flash hole drilled out I keep the cases in a 20 round ammo box, I do not have just one 30/06, 8mm57, 7mm57, 308 W, 8mm Wildcat etc..

Then there is verifying, I make my own tools for measuring case length from the head of the case to the shoulder/datum. Nothing like checking the accuracy of a standard and or transfer, for everything else there is the companion to the press, the feeler gage.

F. Guffey

 

[bengals1975]

As mentioned already, I keep one dummy round for each bullet that I use to make adjusting the seating die quick and easy. On the others, I would pull the bullet and put the brass back with the rest of my brass (if you seated a primer, carefully deprime).

yeah, this is what I plan on doing. I have the Lee Turret press and a separate turret for each round I'm reloading so my dies shouldn't change. However, I plan on loading different grain rounds in my 9mm until I get a bullet/powder/primer combo I really like. by keeping an assembled dummy with each bullet grain I try will help me get back to where I want to be much quicker should I decide to go back to it.

I think then I'll find a way to mark the head of the casing (black paint or maybe something brighter) or maybe a piece of tape around the case body so I can easily idenify it as a dummy and not a live round.

 

[leadchucker]

I don't fool with dummy rounds for reference. I keep a loose leaf book with all the pertinent data on my loads. I do always keep a few empty cases in my die boxes just for setup. I keep a couple with spent primers still in for dialing in the powder measure, and a couple more flared out for dialing in the seating depth. When I'm set up, I pull any bullets, and these empties go back into the die box.

 

[evan price]

I save some- with fired primers in them and a slosh of red fingernail polish in the primer rim- to use with ball & dummy drills on the range. Randomly loading a few dead rounds into a magazine of otherwise live pistol ammo lets me practice failure drills. Works best with friends who have same caliber, and you each load the other guy's magazine so it's random. Even if you KNOW there's duds in there, you still don't know where it is. Flinches, clearing malfunctions, it's a great tool.

 

[oldpapps]

Shoot dummies with them. But the Charlie McCarthy dolls got too expensive so I had to stop.

Seriously, I have two uses. Check feeding in some weapons. And to help adjust the seating depth on some rounds that I load with differing bullet lengths/ogdives. In reality, I have very few.

 

[jcwit]

I make up dummy rounds for some of the calibers I load different bullets in. This is one of 2 actual uses I see for steel cases, the other use is a hole punch.